MADISON, WISC.—We’re the primary CBS
affiliate here and also operate a subchannel
dubbed “TVW” (TV Wisconsin). In addition,
we have a collaborative arrangement and
IP linkage with WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee
and WGBA-TV in Green Bay for transmission
of content.

This linkage is primarily used for HD
video; however, there are times when I’m
sending SD material and it’s necessary to
upconvert this to HD.

FULLY AUTOMATIC OPERATIONS
To handle this, we’re using the Ensemble
Designs 7910 upconverter. It normally
passes HD signals, but detects the presence
of SD and will automatically upconvert that
material to the proper HD format. This functionality
makes it extremely easy for us to
match resolutions to our broadcast requirements.
The 7910 even properly translates
between the SD and HD captioning data,
providing an automatic and transparent
conversion between video standards and
formats—something that not all converters
can do. This too is a really big help in our
day-to-day operations.

We also use the Ensemble Designs 7600
HS/SD embedder and de-embedder, which
can be configured for use as a
multiplexer with one video input
and four AES audio inputs,
with the AES input sources being
embedded into the video
stream. When the unit is configured
as a demultiplexer, any
audio signals present in the
incoming video signal are extracted
and delivered as standard
AES digital audio streams.
It also allows us to adjust the
levels of embedded audio content
and to remap the channels
if necessary before delivering
the audio content as an embedded
signal. The 7600 even has
an automatic gain control feature that we
use with our studio audio output.

Our experience with the Ensemble Designs
Avenue system has been quite good.
We have more than 20 Avenue frames that
are networked together and controlled via a
10/100baseT network, which is augmented
with fiber I/P linkage between buildings at
our facility. One of the really nice features is
that there are no card tray rear panel adapter
plates needed—basically, you can take
any sort of card and put it in the slot that’s
most convenient for your particular setup.

Ensemble makes a very large selection
of signal processing boards and we use a
number of them in our operation. We rely
on the company’s d.a.s, sync generator,
test pattern generators, embedders/deembedders,
and up-, down- cross-converters,
just to name a few. Ensemble’s use of
BNC connectors on the rear of the card
frame is also a welcome feature.

EASY SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
The Avenue’s touchscreen user interface
feature is very intuitive and easy to
use, and turns the configuration of
individual circuit cards into a nonevent.
The interface even provides a
display of the BNC connector layout
for each of the cards, which is displayed
right there on the front panel.

All of our Ensemble Designs
gear has worked great. It’s designed
specifically for the demands of the
broadcast environment and the
company’s customer service is exceptional,
providing us with replacement
boards on an overnight basis
on the few occasions where this has
been necessary. Ensemble features
good gear, good people, and good service.

Steve is a project engineer at WISCTV,
and has been with the operation for
some 25 years. He may be contacted at
spaugh@wisctv.com.